Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Johann le Roux, and I am the CEO of the KAL Group. Welcome to the interim results presentation for the six months period to 31st of March 2026. This is a pre-recorded webcast presented by myself and Graeme Sim, the CFO of the group. We will both be available at the end of the presentation for a live Q&A session. You may therefore send your questions throughout the presentation. If we are unable to handle a particular matter, we will get back to you promptly on the specific matter. There you have the index or the agenda for the day on the screen. The presentation will cover points in terms of the key operational trends and financial performance for the interim period.
In addition, feedback will be provided in terms of the segmental reviews, our strategic business focus areas, and a business outlook to the extent possible. On the screen you have our group structure, for parties that are not familiar with our group. The group is focused on two core business segments being PEG and Agrimark. Agrimark, a 100% subsidiary, consists of our retail stores, our 50/50 partnership in Namibia, our direct business, as well as our grain and mechanization divisions. PEG, our retail fuel business, is not only operating fuel forecourts, but also many quick service restaurant offerings. We currently an effective 58% sharehold in underlying operations with an accredited BEE ownership of over 50%.
We believe that this BEE ownership gives us a competitive advantage in terms of acquiring new sites, especially since the Liquid Fuels Charter currently only have a mandate in terms of a 25% BEE shareholding. During the past 12 months, we disinvested from our manufacturing division and disposed of TEGO, which was a bin manufacturing business during the prior financial year, and also Agriplas, an irrigation manufacturing business during the current reporting period. We therefore, as you can see from the structure, no longer have a manufacturing division within the Group. In terms of our geographical footprint, if you look at the slide on the left-hand side, we have a geographical heat map of all 269 Group business points.
The group operates 155 retail fuel license sites in South Africa and Namibia, of which PEG business segment operates 84 sites in South Africa. Whilst the Agrimark footprint has largely been focused on the water intense areas and the high value farming areas in South Africa, the PEG footprint is focused on clusters in specific provinces and high-value highway sites. On the right-hand side of the slide, we have the business unit movement for the interim reporting period for the six months. During this period, footprint expansion was limited to two new Agrimark offerings in Hartbeespoort and Nelspruit, a new grain bunker in the Swartland area, as well as a new mechanization offering in Mooi River in KwaZulu-Natal. In addition, two new PEG sites were acquired with related QSR offerings.
Our footprint emphasizes a diverse customer base, mitigating single sector exposure, especially on the agri side. This ensures strong generation of cash out of our retail convenience network. In terms of growth, Agrimark will focus more on market share growth in our existing agricultural areas. We see there's significant opportunity there, not necessarily adding bricks and mortar, while at PEG, a pipeline of acquisition opportunities are currently being pursued. Looking back over the interim period, it was definitely an interesting period. The group performance can often incorrectly be overshadowed by the current fuel and price dynamics with the outbreak of the Iran war at the end of February. The reality, however, is that both the Agrimark and PEG segments performed very well throughout the period, even before the outbreak of the war.
The significant fuel price adjustments that are currently felt by all consumers were only implemented during April and May, and therefore had no impact on our interim results. Having said that, the increase in the spike in demand during March prior to the significant fuel price hike in April did have a positive impact on the interim results. It's, however, important to note that fuel performance is driven by fuel volumes and not by price increases, as margins are often regulated, as in the case with petrol. In short, fuel volumes across Agrimark were up 5.8%, supported by good growth in the agricultural and, to a lesser extent, the retail channels. In terms of PEG, fuel volumes increased by 7%, supported by the higher margin retail revenue growth. The grain segment throughout the period remained flat.
The question is then, you know, how did the Iran war impact our business during the reporting period? The war obviously directly led to higher fuel and fertilizer prices. The uncertainty as to fuel supply led to an increase in demand for fuel and to a certain extent, panic buying during March. In addition, the significant fuel price increase in April led to a surge in demand towards the end of March, which exceeded supply. The demand put strain on fuel transport logistics, this curtailed the access to supply even further towards the end of March and in early April.
The increase in demand led to a 30.5% increase in fuel volumes for the month of March alone, which can clearly be seen from the blue spike in the various graphs on the slide relating to fuel volumes. To put this into perspective, our year-to-date volumes of fuel were up 2.2% at the end of February, but with the increase in demand during March of 3.5%, our year-to-date fuel volumes were up 6.7% at the end of March, and therefore our interim reporting period. The fuel demand for the month of April is much lower than March, with only a year-to-date or year-on-year April monthly volume increase of 1.7%.
We anticipate that fuel volumes are likely to remain under pressure in the short term due to the higher fuel prices. In terms of fertilizer prices, the price increase of urea, an important component, have seen an upwards trajectory since January. If you can see from the graph, the price has gone up by 94% since January to currently in May. Fertilizer, however, different to fuel, has seen far more stable supply and demand, and demand dynamics. Once-off fuel price gains at KAL Group, the reporting period is only about ZAR 1 million, with a much bigger impact expected in H2 with the recent April and May fuel price increases. We need to bear in mind that fuel prices will come down again, but predicting the timing of these is obviously impossible with a volatile situation in the Middle East.
We're very encouraged by our set of results, particularly against the backdrop of ongoing uncertainty and challenging conditions. I will now hand over to Graeme to provide feedback on our interim financial performance.
Thanks, Johann. As you can see from the slide, all key indicators showed strong upward momentum for the six months, continuing on from the trading update we presented at our February AGM. I'll get into the detail over the next few slides, but overall, gross profit grew by 8.8% and ahead of revenue growth. Contributing to this gross profit growth was a 6.7% increase in group fuel volumes. EBITDA increased by 7.7%, resulting in recurring headline earnings per share growth of 15.1%, a very strong performance for the six months. The group balance sheet has continued to strengthen with significant gearing improvements, as can be seen. We have previously indicated our intention to increase the dividend payout ratio.
This, together with a solid performance at half year and our balance sheet strength, supports the board's approval of a 25% increase in the interim dividend to ZAR 0.70 per share. Looking at the income statement, take into account that fuel revenue contributes 57% to total revenue and that both fuel revenue being price regulated and grain revenue being SAFEX hedged are not drivers or indicators of profitability. It is more appropriate to consider gross profit and fuel volumes when assessing performance. Increases or decreases in fuel or grain prices do not translate into improved or reduced gross profit, apart from the once-off stock price adjustments mentioned. It is, however, important to highlight that during the period, both retail and agri input channel revenue grew at rates above inflation, reflecting strong real growth.
The year-on-year impact of reduced fuel price change gains negatively impacted gross profit by ZAR 14 million for the period. Gross profit grew by 8.8% or 9.8% when excluding the year-on-year impact of fuel price change gains. With the increased contribution of high margin convenience and QSR revenue, ongoing retail margin management initiatives, and continued growth in distribution center throughput supporting retail trading margin growth. Agri input channel margins were slightly down on the back of strong agri revenue growth. Cost management remains a core focus area with our like-for-like costs well under control. Important to note, included in profit after tax is ZAR 63 million pre-tax relating largely to the profit on disposal of Agriplas and the sale of minor percentages of shareholding in certain PEG sites to existing site equity partners.
EBITDA calculated on headline earnings grew by 7.7% to almost ZAR 600 million, resulting in recurring headline earnings growth of 19.4% and recurring headline earnings per share growth of 15.1%. Return on equity being six months return on full equity was up to 9.8% from 8.9% last year. As mentioned, an interim increase in the dividend from ZAR 0.56 - ZAR 0.70 being 25%. As usual, the three graphs at the bottom showing sustained strong five-year performance of the business. We consider recurring headline earnings per share to be a strong indicator of sustained wealth creation as it eliminates the impact of once-off events. This slide shows the items impacting earnings to calculate headline earnings per share and recurring headline earnings per share.
Headline earnings adjustments in the current year relate to the profit on disposal of Agriplas and the sale of the minor percentages in certain PEG sites to existing equity partners. Non-recurring adjustments relate largely to costs associated with new business development. As mentioned, recurring headline earnings up 19.4% and recurring headline earnings per share up 15.1%. Just bear in mind that recurring headline earnings per share only considers the earnings attributable to the KAL shareholders. Moving on to the balance sheet. Although non-current assets were relatively constant year on year, the movement consisted of additional CapEx and the acquisition of new PEG sites, largely offset by the disposal of TEGO towards the end of the last financial year and Agriplas during H1. Current assets increased on the back of high inventory levels and growth in trade receivables.
The group's debt reduction continued during the period. Compared to last year, net interest-bearing debt reduced by ZAR 454 million with ZAR 240 million in term debt being settled during the 12 months. This net debt position is subsequent to the payment of the remaining portion of the low-risk retention payment of ZAR 42 million relating to the PEG acquisition and includes the proceeds received to date on the disposal of Agriplas of ZAR 140 million. This debt reduction resulted in a March debt to equity ratio of 32.9% compared to 48.4% a year ago. In summary, our balance sheet remains strong, ensuring sustainability and allowing for growth with effective returns-based capital allocation, supporting our focus on ROIC and our debt repayments continuing.
As we have previously stated, return on invested capital and economic value add are key performance indicators in our business and form the basis of our effective capital allocation process and investment decisions. Throughout the periods in the graph, ROIC has consistently outperformed WACC, creating economic value add for shareholders. During 2022, we completed two significant ROIC-enhancing initiatives, being the disposal of TFC Properties, as well as the acquisition of the PEG Group, which added 41 highly cash generative retail fuel and convenience service stations to the group. The ROIC uptick in 2023 reflects the first full year of PEG in the group. ROIC for the first six months of the current financial year is ahead of last year with a solid H2 anticipated. Together with prudent capital investment, focused working capital management, flattening gearing levels, full-year ROIC prospects are very encouraging.
As mentioned in previous webcasts, executive reward in terms of the long-term share incentive scheme is heavily linked to EVA as a performance hurdle, with management incentivized to outperform specific ROIC targets. Moving on to capital expenditure, capital spent of ZAR 113 million was incurred during the period. This included ZAR 50 million spent on new acquisitions, new expansions, ZAR 40 million on value-enhancing upgrades, and ZAR 22 million for maintenance CapEx. CapEx was well allocated across the two operating segments, being Agrimark and PEG. Included in the Agrimark CapEx are the new Matumi and Garden Walk stores in Nelspruit and Hartenbos. PEG CapEx was spent on three new QSRs, numerous site upgrades and expansion. In addition to this, a further ZAR 38 million was spent on the acquisition of the two new fuel sites.
Agrimark grain storage capacity was increased with the addition of a new 30,000 ton grain bunker in the Swartland region. In our corporate space, we incurred cost in terms of our long-term ERP modernization process. Looking at trade debtors, credit supports our revenue growth in our Agrimark segment. The debtors book has performed exceptionally well throughout the period. It remains very healthy. Our strategy to grow market share remains key to our Agrimark business model, and in support of this, we provide production credit to facilitate purchases from our various trade and retail offerings. We follow a stringent vetting process considering a range of financial and non-financial factors, as well as the nature and value of securities provided, with the resulting credit rating being considered when determining the approved facility value and interest rate to be charged.
Across the book, we make in the region of 250 basis points net interest received on all accounts. Year- on- year, our debtors book grew by 3.6% at half year, which equates to a turn of 4.3x per year, up slightly from 4.2x last year. Our book consists of 16,500 accounts, of which around 20% of these accounts are seasonal accounts, with payment terms ranging from 3-12 months, depending on the cash flow cycle of the underlying product being produced. Monthly accounts are strictly 30-day accounts, this product and geographic diversity of the book reduces overall risk, improves cash flow, and contributes significantly to the strong performance of the book over time.
Our bad debt write-offs continue to be very low, reflective of our strong vetting and control processes and the quality of underlying book, with only 0.17% of the book being written off during the six-month period, and the five and 10-year average bad debt write-offs still remaining very low. Our expected credit loss provision was stable at 2.6%, equating to about nine years' worth of bad debt write-offs based on the 10-year average. Not within term debtors as a percentage of total debtors were 8.6% compared to 11.5% last year, with a five-year trend further highlighting the health of the book. Collections have been strong and not within term percentages at the lowest level in four years.
Regarding customer tenure and risk profile, 81% of debtors have been group customers for longer than five years, with 61% of the book considered to be low and very low risk and less than 1% seen as very high risk. In summary, the book remains well managed, stringently vetted, diversified from a product and geographic perspective, with extremely low default ratio and suitable securities. Looking at the cash flow for the, for the period, the group's cash flow generation remains strong, driven by revenue growth and margin enhancement. Working capital has been very well managed. Inventory increased by only 2.6%, with a continued focused approach to holding the correct levels of appropriate stock. The impact of centralized procurement and distribution and high contributions of quicker-moving convenience retail and fuel stock supporting the low inventory growth.
While credit sales increased by 5.4%, trade debtors balances only increased by 3.6% year on year, with the not within terms as a percentage improving as mentioned. Included in the cash flow movement of creditors for the period are seven payment cycles due to the timing of year-end payment of suppliers. This normalizes for the full year, with only five creditor payment cycles in the second half of the year. Focused return-based capital spend of ZAR 112 million was incurred during the period, as well as an additional ZAR 38 million for the acquisition of the two big fuel sites mentioned. Agriplas disposal proceeds of ZAR 140 million were received during H1, with the remaining proceeds relating to the disposal of the Agriplas property due on transfer during H2.
The final PEG acquisition-related term debt repayment was made during H1, with a bullet payment of ZAR 279 million due at the end of June in process of being refinanced. Interest paid reduced year-on-year on the back of the reduction in net interest-bearing debt and lower interest rates. Lastly, the dividends paid were ZAR 128 million. In summary, cash generation remains really healthy, well managed, and it positions us well to capitalize on potential value-enhancing acquisition opportunities. Johann will take us through the rest of the presentation from here.
Thank you, Graeme. I'll now deal in terms of our three segments. The Agrimark business segment, although traditionally focused on the agri input related post-harvest packaging and expansion requirements of farmers, has changed quite dramatically over time, with Agrimark now boasting various store formats tailored to specific customer and regional requirements. As can be seen from the slide, our retail in-store offering have expanded to include garden, pet, pool, DIY, building materials, outdoor and other general retail assortments. We have over time invested in centralized supply chain capabilities like inventory management, warehousing, assortment planning, with these functions now all being done centrally and digitally. In terms of performance for this segment, the Agrimark business strategy is still focused on market share growth, mainly without bricks and mortar and therefore limited additional capital and operational efficiencies.
Footprint expansion will however be considered where we can support agricultural market share drive in water-intensive areas combined with general retail. As previously mentioned, and also mentioned by Graeme Sim, during the reporting period, we added two new Agrimarks which met the footprint expansion criteria. Overall revenue, which excludes the direct transactions for the Agrimark segment, grew by 6.3%, with the retail channel growing by 2.7%. There's currently inflation in that channel of 1.7%, and the agri channel grew by 8.7%, and there's currently deflation of 0.6% in that channel. Even though fuel volumes were up by 5.8%, the average price of fuel was lower compared to the prior reporting period. Looking at the total agri channel performance, farm infrastructure is showing double-digit growth.
This is off the back of professional services being offered to farmers on turnkey farm infrastructure projects. This is a specific focus and strategy for the group. Packaging materials have shown growth off the back of improved volumes, especially grapes and the pome areas, but also negatively impacted by deflation. In terms of the retail channel, while hunting and other smaller categories are showing good growth, the larger collective building material categories are down 4%. The building material category will remain under pressure in the current economic environment. Having said that, the paint and garden categories have delivered, which could be that households are renovating and landscaping rather than constructing.
Excellent expenditure, stock and working capital management led to a decrease in interest charge in the Agrimark segment, resulting in the overall segment performing well with a 10.9% increase in profit before tax, and that number is prior to incentives. This is an accurate reflection of segment performance, as all incentives linked to KAL Group are currently provided against the segment at the interim reporting period, obviously based on our full year assumptions. Therefore, explains the lower 4.2% PBT growth as per the table on the left. In terms of our PEG segment, this slide clearly shows some of the brands we operate within our PEG network of 84 units. Most of you will be familiar with these well-known brands. PEG is the largest independent operator of retail fuel and convenience sites in South Africa.
The South African fuel market is still highly fragmented, with our sizable network still only representing less than 5% of total retail volumes in South Africa. This obviously presents an opportunity for us to grow. We're also leading franchisees in the Famous Brands and KFC stables, reinforcing our diversified retail customer base. We successfully operate these brands within the operating environments of the franchisors with a high level of respect to each brand, working closely with each to maximize our offering to customers. In terms of the performance of the PEG segment, a very good performance. I've already provided some detail on the supply, demand and price dynamics throughout the period in this space. The PEG business growth strategy will be driven by mainly service station footprint growth, supported by the QSR expansion and operational efficiencies.
Two new sites were added during the reporting period, with three related QSR offerings. The Easter weekend coincided with the school holidays this year, with the Easter weekend similar to 2025 falling in April and therefore not having an impact on the interim results. Normally, Easter and the Christmas periods are big drivers for this business. Overall revenue for the PEG segment grew by 4%, with the fuel channel growing by 3.6% and the retail channel growing by 5.6%. The revenue increase in the fuel channel was impacted by the increase in fuel volumes of 7%, but also by the 3.2% lower average fuel price than the comparative period. The increase in fuel volumes and increase in retail revenue at higher margins are the main drivers of growth for this segment during the reporting period.
The gross margin improvement is due to the higher retail convenience contribution and the lower fuel price dropping revenue while our fuel margin increased slightly. Another positive trend, as you can see, is that the GP margin per fuel liter sold has grown further by 3.9%. This all resulted in attributable recurring headline earnings increasing by 62.8% from the prior, an excellent performance. As mentioned, the once-off fuel price adjustments in April and May had no impact on the H1 performance. It will only have an impact on H2. The cash generation of PEG remains strong, and the pipeline of opportunities remains positive. We believe that the volatile fuel environment could bring further acquisition opportunities for PEG and for this segment.
In terms of the grain segment, we report in this segment due to its relative importance in the Western Cape wheat production area and comprises of just under 400,000 tons of wheat and canola storage facilities in the Swartland area north of Cape Town. In terms of performance, and the growth strategy, the growth strategy of this segment is to maintain and grow market share of grain handling and storage in the Western Cape. Also, as Graeme mentioned in his presentation, we added a new 30,000-ton bunker in the Swartland area during the period. Storage volume and not revenue is a driver of this segment. The recent wheat harvest for the last year was 14% higher than the prior, but this is, however, not reflected in the profit before tax number.
As with a higher harvest, there's obviously additional costs that needs to be incurred to move grain from silo to silo. Even though PBT remains flat for the period, the return on net assets remains attractive, as you can also see from the graph or from the schedule. Grain farmers will feel the impact of the higher fuel and fertilizer prices during the current planting season, early indications are that there could be a shift more towards canola and that less wheat could be planted. Promising rains, however, during April and May have improved moisture levels in our grain areas and is therefore a good start to the current planting season. In terms of our business strategy, the strategy of the KAL Group has always been to create value for shareholders.
The focus remains on growth, as per the communicated strategy for the Agrimark and PEG segments. We need to say that growth alone does not always create shareholder value. It needs to be value-accretive growth based on invested capital. The KAL Group has delivered solid results over the past five years in terms of growth. If you look at the graph from the left, you know, you can clearly see that on a five-year compound annual growth rate, recurring headline earnings per share has grown by just under 10%. Dividend per share has grown by just under 9%, the result in NAV per share by over 11% growth.
What's however also clear is when you look at the share price, the share price has not grown in line with the growth performance of the other measures, which is something that we're looking at currently. In terms of our strategy also, you know, companies with identical earnings can often create different value for shareholders. The difference is often on how historical capital and also our new capital is being allocated and how efficiently it's being applied in the business. Return on invested capital and economic value add have always been principles applied at the KAL Group. However, when we're looking at the graph on the slide, KAL has a modest ROIC over WACC spread of only 1%-2% despite the strong growth performance that I've mentioned in the previous slide.
Graeme's also mentioned in this slide the improvement in ROIC in the 2023 year as a result of the PEG acquisition. Our strategy will therefore specifically be focused on widening the spread, which can be done either by increasing the return on invested capital or decreasing the weighted average cost of capital. This increase in spread, obviously on a sustainable basis, will, in my opinion, be the most reliable driver of long-term shareholder value creation for KAL shareholders. This is not a new strategy. As I said, these measures have already been in place at the business. It's rather a deep dive into capital allocation, but not only in terms of new capital allocated, but also in terms of historical capital allocated, and therefore, the existing capital in the business.
Capital is not only new investments, but also our daily decisions like inventory, receivable, branches, and then obviously growth CapEx. Graeme Sim and I are currently evaluating return on invested capital measures throughout the various areas of the KAL Group, and we're seeing this as an opportunity to rethink how we do business daily. We're obviously also looking at ways to reduce our weighted average cost of capital, especially with our low debt-to-equity levels as we continue to repay the PEG acquisition debt. The strategy therefore aims to deliver shareholder returns by focusing on value creation over mere growth. Obviously, strategy, in my opinion, is nothing more than how we allocate capital for growth, and obviously, it needs to be in an efficient manner.
Having said that, growth remains a key part of our strategy, and as mentioned, additional premium fuel and convenience charges at PEG and market share growth at Agrimark will actively be pursued. In terms of the business outlook for the group for the next six months, you know, it all depends on how long the oil price will be high. The longer the oil price is high, will obviously have an impact on fuel demand. This will have a domino effect on high inflation and interest rates, adding pressure on the disposable income of consumers and general retail. This will obviously have a wider impact for the South African economy. The future is a little bit uncertain, the environment. We however expect opportunities in the retail fuel space.
We have relationships with all the oil cos, going through this volatile period, you know, we had relatively steady supply compared to our competitors. We think there's opportunities in that space for us. In terms of the agricultural sector, especially the grain sector, they will definitely feel the impact of high input costs. You know, fertilizer and fuel makes up about 50% of their input costs, it's a big contributor. Overall, in our areas, agricultural conditions are mostly favorable. Having said that, you know, the recent stores, storms in the Western Cape and the floods over the last few days did lead to considerable damage in terms of farm infrastructure. The extent of that obviously still needs to be assessed, you know, as the flood levels go down.
We do think that this could also potentially be an opportunity for us in those areas. We're very excited about the opportunities within the KAL Group. As Graeme also mentioned, we have a strong balance sheet, we've got strong cash generation, and it's obviously always good to be in this position in a, in a volatile environment. Just from my side, I've been with the business for 12 weeks now. We have a motivated team, and we're obviously all keen to continue on our strategy to create further sustainable long-term value for our KAL shareholders. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. That brings us to the end of the pre-presentation. Graeme and I will now move over to the live Q&A session.
One.
I'm gonna jump straight back into the questions. The first question, can you please expand on the strategic review announcement with respect of ROIC versus WACC for the KAL Group? Any initial thoughts regarding what areas of the business is lagging these targets? If you split the KAL business just in two segments for now, you'll find that the ROIC of the PEG business is higher than the Agrimark business. Our review will mainly focus on Agrimark. It's also a business that's got more working capital than the PEG side, so the focus will be on the working capital side, and then also on the branches or the footprint to make sure that the footprint is efficient. The second question is, the balance sheet is in good shape. Why not implement a substantial share buyback program?
How do you view buybacks versus CapEx or acquisitions? Yes, I agree. The balance sheet is in very good shape. Share buybacks is always on the cards for us. One must also just bear in mind that a substantial share buyback, liquidity is an issue in our share price. If you look over a period of time, there's only about ZAR 1 million worth of shares that trade daily. But it is on the cards, but our preference would always be to rather apply the capital into acquisitions that can generate a higher return. But at the current P:E multiple of about 7x, a share buyback would be a good capital allocation. There's a question of, can you provide guidance regarding the expected dividend cover payout ratio at financial year-end?
As has been communicated to the market, the aim is to get to a dividend cover of 2.5x, and we aim to reach that at our year-end as part of our year-end results. There's a question of is short-term debt facilities the most efficient way to finance the debtors book? I think the debtors book will be one of the areas that review in terms of our ROIC of Agrimark. I think if you consider whether it's short-term or long-term debt, obviously debtors is a short-term asset, so short-term debt makes sense. I think the question is rather, if you look at our debt to equity currently on the balance sheet, you know, we're actually using a lot of equity to fund the debtors book and whether that is appropriate.
That'll be part of our investigation. There's a question or a statement. Well done on a solid set of results. Three questions. Is there generally a correlation between higher fuel prices and lower spending at your forecourts? High fuel prices obviously leads to less demand. There's not normally a correlation, but obviously when fuel people stop to fill up, obviously that will affect your retail stores. Yes, I think the higher price does have a negative connotation to your higher margin retail. The next question there is, can you give us some insight into the split between fuel profits and non-fuel profits in PEG, and how much? Okay, Graeme, maybe if you can answer that. It's the split between fuel profits and non-fuel profits in PEG.
Look, in PEG, obviously the revenue number is less important because of the fuel price. To your point, when it comes to GPs or trading profits in that space, the profits between the fuel and the retail environment are fairly evenly spread between the two. Our drive would be to grow the profits on the retail side. Obviously, your margins are significantly higher in that space. Hence why the more recent acquisitions, including PEG and subsequent to that have had such a high retail component. Our drive is to drive that portion of the business really hard.
Then there's a question. Can you provide a geographical split in your profits for the PEG Group, I assume, because I think these all relate to the PEG segment. The PEG profits generally come from the central kind of urban areas. It'll be Gauteng, I think that's about 28% or 29%, and then the Western Cape area, which is also in the high 20s. I think if you combine the two, probably close to 60% just from those two nodes, the Western Cape around, and then obviously the Gauteng area. There's two more questions currently. Strong results, that's another question on share buybacks. I think I've answered that already. Another question on share buybacks. Then there's a question on kindly expand on the sale of minority stakes in PEGs.
Why was this done, and what multiple was earned? When you refer to minority stakes, the structure of PEG is as follows: obviously, KAL has the share in PEG at the top, and then the PEG Group itself, most of these sites have owner-operators that own, you know, 5%-10% of these individual sites. To incentivize those individuals so they feel like they're owners, we obviously issue shares to them. It's incentive, you know, at these sites, and it makes 100% sense. The model works because you must remember, a fuel forecourt is something that's run 24/7. To have someone there that feels like he's an owner with us makes perfect sense. There's another question. Do we anticipate the maintenance of the PEG retail margin against lower fuel volumes?
The retail margin will remain the same in terms of the convenience because that wouldn't change. I guess the question is whether the high fuel price will lead to lower fuel volumes, and I think that's definitely going to be the case, which means that people will visit your retail stores, fewer times, which will obviously have an impact. Just wanna give another few minutes to see if there's any more questions coming through. Graeme, are there any of these questions that you maybe want to elaborate on or that I've missed?
Well, look, I think in terms of the PEG minority stake, part of the question also asked around the multiple at which these minority stakes were acquired, were sold. The PEG model really works on a same multiple in, same multiple out mindset. If you have a change of an equity partner, the person moving out and the person moving in would be on the same multiple. That's an important principle as a start. Second one, in terms of the quantum of that calculation or multiple, it would be at a similar multiple to the original PEG acquisition, and then obviously applying a discount in terms of a minority stake.
I mean, I can't go into the details as to exactly what that multiple is, but it's a consistent fair multiple across the calculation.
Yes, I've just refreshed. There's no more questions. From our side, thanks very much for everyone's time today. If you have any additional questions on the presentation, you know, you're happy to still post them here, and Graeme and I will revert as soon as we receive them. Thanks very much